to the editor: Contributor Veronique de Rugy proposes another free-market solution to our healthcare problems, but there's an inherent problem she ignores (“Why health care is so expensive in the United States and what to do about it” March 5).
The basic requirement for a “free market” is that there be a willing buyer and seller. That means that both the buyer and the seller must be willing and able to walk away from the deal if it is not satisfactory to them. This does not exist on either side of healthcare; Providers are required by law to treat patients, and sick or injured people are hardly in a position to walk away if treatment is a little more expensive than they would like. While health savings accounts would be a great opportunity for the financial institutions that would hold all that money, they won't solve our healthcare problems.
It is worth noting that many developed countries have health systems that work better than ours, cost less, and have equal or better health outcomes. None of these countries have a “free market” system. All of them have universal care managed by their governments.
When will America accept that we are no smarter than everyone else in the world and embrace universal care that has been proven to work in so many countries?
John La Grange, Solana Beach
..
to the editor: To begin with, De Rugy's analysis of the extraordinary cost of healthcare in the United States starts from a mistaken premise. Unlike goods and services, healthcare should be non-profit, just like basic education, the postal service, the fire department, etc.
The tax code she criticizes is expected to cost the government $487 billion this year. She refers to this as if it were a catastrophe, as if patronizing healthcare was an abomination.
Universal healthcare, as has happened in Europe, has been criticized by American politicians as second-rate healthcare, but this is not the case. Europeans are generally healthier, lives longer and undergo procedures and care with the same level of quality. Europeans contribute to health costs with their taxes.
I fear that De Rugy's analysis is flawed. Health care in America should be a right, not a privilege.
Marie Mulligan, Manhattan Beach
